Review: Temple Fang ‘Lifted From The Wind’

From the opening bit of The River from Dutch psych outfit Temple Fang, I knew things had gotten very interesting. New drummer Daan Wopereis unleashes a steady and revolving beat that rollicks and throbs along in a way I haven’t quite heard from this band before.

While I have dug into Temple Fang’s earlier releases, in my estimation their drone-heavy offerings weren’t as easy a listening experience as similar acts like Papir or King Buffalo.

But Wopereis’ skills behind the kit appear to have given a fresh kick of creative energy to Temple Fang’s marriage of psych minimalism, prog deftness and stoner rock weight. Lifted From the Wind is the group’s latest release from Stickman Records, and it looks to be their strongest yet.

The River streams along with a consistency of its watery namesake, reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s Meddle period or perhaps Samsara Blues Experiment. At eighteen minutes, it is essentially three songs put into one, the first half being the white rapids, the middle section being the listless floating into the calm area and the reverb-heavy finality going into unknown waters.

a very confident and moody record from Temple Fang and absolutely deserves a listen…

The more meditative, but no less intense, Once follows, drawing upon similarities to Earth’s weighty drone stylings with the monolithic building intensity of Can and The Doors coupled with the haunting final lyrics of ‘Then… you… surrender’. Dennis Duijinhouwer and Jevin de Groot’s vocal trade-offs sound particularly strong here, their call-and-response pairings are as effortless as their harmonies.

This is evidenced on my favorite track, the upbeat and harrowing The Radiant. It’s the shortest track on the album at just over seven minutes, but it seamlessly blends in some fine British prog rock energy in the manner of Wishbone Ash and Camel. The band’s ability to shift tempos is readily apparent as Lifted From the Wind quickly transitions into an impressive progressive rock effort as it closes out.

To my ears, it sounds like an improved version of what Elder and Kadavar’s collaboration was trying to accomplish a few years back. This is a very confident and moody record from Temple Fang and absolutely deserves a listen. Let the wind lift you away…

Label: Stickman Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Scribed by: Rob Walsh